Here's how you can balance your continuing education with your current job responsibilities effectively.

While teaching full-time at a local community college and raising young children, I completed my doctorate. By waking up early every morning, I was able to dedicate one to two hours to my studies before starting my workday. I discovered that consistent daily effort allowed me to avoid spending entire weekends on schoolwork.

I'm a teacher, so I took one class at a time during the school year and as many as possible over the summer. I also spent Saturdays focused on reading for class and Monday evenings for assignments. During downtime, I'd work and outline for larger assignments. I tried to stay a week ahead in every class so I had wiggle room if there was an emergency or anything else.

The hardest part for me is not the coursework, it is the individual project. After several months of in person lectures for my small business certificate, we then had 3 months to apply what we learned.. The timeline wasn’t structured and classmates were not present twice a week to compare notes. If you get in this situation, here are some helpful notes: 1. Set up a zoom or IRL weekly meeting to check on progress, ask questions, or just to compare projects. 2. In the same way that the lectures are divided, you can “chunk down” your project. Smaller pieces are easier to handle and you can space your chunks so you make the deadline 3. Start the project during the lectures. Then your questions can be answered by the lecturer.

Say no rather whether to family co-workers or friends is not often an easy decision to make. Here are some ways that I handle it. 1 Evaluate what is being asked? Help them clarify what they really need from you. 2. When do they need it? Is your "No" a hard "No" or is it more of a "not now but maybe later." 3. Can you offer alternative solutions to the request that would be beneficial to both you and the asker? When saying no, be sensitive to the other person's need. Remember that there will come a time when you may need someone to stretch their boundaries to accommodate you.

As a teacher, I would incorporate new teaching techniques as I read and learned about them during my M. Ed. During my M.A., I often shared stories or new facts I'd learned with my students, and I also found it helpful for them to see that we can always learn, even when we're working full time, and that there are educational opportunities past your Bachelor's degree.

I had a small business when I took a series of business courses directed at the small business owner. It allowed me to learn and apply marketing and bookkeeping skills that I didn’t learn in my original major.

I always started a group text with people who were in my classes and wanted to chat. We kept each other on top of things and commiserated when we were struggling. Having that community made it much easier.

One thing I found helpful was to use the class intermission/coffee break to get in more steps. Walking the halls briskly for 10 minutes improved my focus, kept me awake for the second lecture, and didn’t wear off like caffeine. My daily goal is 10,000 steps and I didn’t have to sacrifice that to take the classes! I also have a walking desk at home.